


Son of a Witch

by BaslessRapier (Yosokage)



Series: Son of a Witch [2]
Category: Bayonetta (Video Games), Devil May Cry, Persona 4, Persona 5
Genre: Akira is Bayonetta's son, Also the Umbrans can be rude, Alternate Universe - No Personas (Persona Series), F/M, Family, Featuring Dante from Devil May Cry...at some point, Gen, I guess Yu is probably like Nero, It's gonna have separate documents for one shots and things like that, Kidnapping, They'll be linked don't worry, This is the main story, probably
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-09
Updated: 2019-07-01
Packaged: 2019-11-14 15:31:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18055181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yosokage/pseuds/BaslessRapier
Summary: Akira Kurusu never had a mother. He was always told why. She was off fighting battles no one else could fight. She never visited and she never sent anything to him. He always wondered why. Now he knows why, after he gets sucked into the world his mom never wanted him in with powers he never knew he had.





	1. Bullet 1:Prologue

Akira Kurusu was a lonely child. His father was never at home, always working to provide for his son. His mother was never there, at least that he could remember. When his father was home in time to tuck Akira into bed he would tell him stories about his mother. All about how his mother was a powerful woman, in a different way than his father. She couldn’t be home with them because she had to protect them from monsters, or that was what he would always say when he asked. How she was never afraid of her job, and how she loved them both.

Akira would look at his ceiling at night and wonder if she would ever come home. Akira would look into the mirror and wonder if he looked anything like her. Sometimes Father would look at him and get a look in his eyes. A sort of sad, wet look and then he would turn away as if it never happened. Akira knew it had happened, he always knew.

And then Akira grew up. His father had stopped coming home to tell him goodnight when he started going to school. Akira stopped hearing stories of his mother, stopped seeing the looks in his father's eyes, and whether he realized it or not he started to wear a mask. So he stayed alone, though people told him they were his friends, and he did exactly what his father told him to do. He got good grades, he made friends with important people, and he tried to act every bit the dutiful son that his father wanted.

Then during the summer between his first and second year, the worst day of his life happened. The sun was setting behind the fences as he walked home and the sky was red. He had been at school to help the Student Council with a meeting, they had said that they would help him get on if he would do what they said. The walk from his school wasn’t very long and crime didn’t really happen around his neighborhood. It was quiet. 

The lack of noise only made the cries for help seem louder in his ears. He went running towards the calls, just around the corner, just inside the alley. He came to a stop in front of them. A drunk man and a woman pinned to a wall. Akira couldn’t tell if he actually smelled the booze or if he imagined it. Without thinking he shouted “Hey! Get away from her!”

The drunk man looked over his shoulder. “Hey, beat it, kid. This is a matter for adults.”

“No! Get away from her!”  
  
“Kid, d’you got any idea who I am? Beat it or you won’t like what happens to you.”   
  
Akira didn’t think about what the man had said. He just moved without thinking when he shoved the man away from her. He landed on his stomach, his head cracking against the ground. Akira’s eyes widened when he realized what had happened, he scrambled over to the man to make sure he was okay. He was more than okay, sitting up almost as soon as Akira reached his side.

  
“Get away you punk! I’ll sue!”

  
‘What?’ Akira thought ‘I didn’t do anything wrong!’ Despite that, the police still came running at the man’s shouting. They grabbed Akira and pushed him against a wall. After that, it all seemed to blur. Akira could barely remember it all, it all happened so fast.

His father came to the jail and told him that there would be a trial. He saw the woman he had saved defending the man who had been attacking her. He couldn’t understand why. He had done the right thing. Why was he being put into prison? Why had this happened?  All at once the world seemed to collapse under him, and he was collapsing too. The mask he wore for years before shattered. Akira wasn’t sure about anything anymore. His father had left him now that he was in Juvie. His friends had all sent him messages rejecting him. For the first time since middle school Akira found himself wishing his mother was here.

**…**

Two months passed by before Akira heard anything from his father. Apparently, the court had decided that he was would be allowed to go on probation for the new school year. His father hadn’t come to tell him that. A guard told him about the probation, his father came to tell him not to screw it up. Akira just nodded and stowed away his disappointment. He had gotten good at that. A few days after he had seen his father, he was on a train to Yongen-Jaya. His guardian, Sojiro Sakura, lived there. He was supposed to be taking care of him while he was on probation.

 “ _Next stop, Yongen-Jaya, next stop_ ”

That was his cue to start getting himself ready to go. Picking up his bag, he stood up in the crowd of people. He looked over peoples heads easily and found the way to the train doors quickly. When the speakers announced their arrival and the doors opened up, he began his way out. The station wasn’t very crowded so it was easy to find his way to the address he had been given. At least until he actually tried to get to the front door, the gate was locked.

“You trying to get in? If that gate isn’t unlocked you might want to try the cafe down the road.” Akira jumped when the delivery man spoke. He hadn’t realized anyone was behind the corner!

“What do you mean?”

“Well, the man who lives here works at a cafe down the road. I’d bet he’s down there right now!”  
Akira furrowed his brow. ‘ _Did he not know I was coming today?_ ’

“Say, why are you trying to get in there?”

“Oh,” He pointed at the house. “My father wants me to live with Sakura-san”

He looked satisfied with the answer as Akira walked away. ‘ _Down the road?”_ Akira had walked by a yellow roof on his way to the house. Was that it? Feeling the rain starting to fall, he hoped it was the right place.

**…**

Akira’s room wasn’t quite what he hoped. It was spacious. He had it all to himself too. The main issue was that it was an attic. There was no reason to dress it up, it was just an attic he was shoved into. He tried not to sound bitter about it, he honestly did. But it was hard for him to be positive about it when most of the surfaces were covered with boxes and dust. At least Sojiro had uncovered the bed. Now there was somewhere for him to lay down and think about what to do.   
  
Sojiro had said that he was meeting with the school today. Akira groaned into the pillow. Why did it feel like this would be happening a lot?

_Tap-tap!_

Akira lifted his head. ‘ _The window?’_ Why was the window making noise? Should he open it?

 _Tap-tap!!_ The tapping was louder now, and definitely from the window. Akira sat up to open it.

 _Tap-ta-_ Whatever was tapping on the glass had fallen through the window when Akira opened it. Two large blue eyes looked up at him. ‘ _You’ve got to be kidding me…’_

“Meow!” The black and white cat seemed excited in Akira’s lap, but all he could think of is that he had to get rid of it before Sojiro saw it. If he wasn’t even allowed to go out after the shop was closed then there was no way he would let him have a cat! The more he tried to pick up the cat the more it just wanted to stay in his lap.

“Mroooow!”

“Hey! Do I hear a cat up there?” Heavy footsteps were moving up the stairs.   
  
“Ah-h! No! No cats up here!” 

Sojiro peaked over the stair-rails just as Akira managed to detach the cat from him. He held it in his arms as recognition dawned on Sojiro’s face. “Hey! Where’d you get that cat from!” As if triggered by the Sojiro, blue symbols began to appear around the cat. There was a flash of light and suddenly everything seemed to have frozen around the cat. It turned around to look at Akira.

‘ _Grrrrr… Let me go! You can’t just manhandle me y’know?’_ It narrowed its eyes at him in irritation. It wiggled its way out of Akira’s grip and it leaped over his shoulder and onto the window sill. _‘Next time keep that in mind!’_ It looked back at him, its tail swaying back and forth, and then it jumped down to the streets.

“Did that cat just talk to me?” He said to himself. 

Akira turned around to Sojiro, who was still frozen. Looking at him was giving him a headache. Why was everything still? He sat down on his bed, the springs creaking in protest at his weight, and took off his glasses. His father had given them to him before he had left, saying something about looking more studious with them. He just shrugged and agreed to wear them.

 _'What was that?’_  

In the corner of his eye, he thought he had seen something move behind Sojiro. There was no time to think about that as Sojiro (and the rest of the world) unfroze when he put the glasses back on.

“Where’d that cat go?” He needed to think fast.

“Uh, what cat?” Nice save.

“The one that was just right there!” Akira sent him a confused look. “Oh… nevermind then. Anyways, are you almost ready to go? I’ll give you a ride this one time, but after that, you’ll be taking the train to school.”

Akira nodded and put on his shoes, following Sojiro out the door to his car.

 _‘What did I see?’_ It was just a flicker, but something was definitely there.

…

If the traffic in the way to school was bad, then the traffic on the way back was worse. Akira’s bad mood probably didn’t help the experience feel better than it was. The school meeting had soured his mood. He knew before that to them that he was a delinquent with a record, but did they have to repeat that to him so much? He already knew he was on thin ice! He was hoping to at least give a good impression so his homeroom teacher wouldn’t think he was so bad, apparently, she thought of him in the same way! He sighed, could he really blame them? Maybe the first day would be better? Right now he just wanted to get back to ‘home’ and rest. His head had been hurting since they left school.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He exhaled and pressed his head against the window. They hadn’t moved an inch in what seemed like an hour. “Sakura-san, is traffic always like this?”

No answer. Had he not heard him? Was his music too loud? Wait, where did the music go? And the sounds of the city? Everything around him was quiet. He looked around and saw Sojiro frozen in place. “What the hell?” Something moved at the intersection in the distance. He squinted to see what it was. He climbed out of the car to get a better look at it when it snapped around, bright blue eyes peering back at him. It...was that cat? What was it doing in the middle of the road? Why was it just sitting there? He started to walk towards it, watching as it raised its ears in curiosity.

As soon as he was almost close enough to reach out and touch it sprang away, weaving between cars and frozen people, and turned into an alleyway. He ran after it, barely keeping its tail in his sight as it turned the corner.  He panted as he crossed still streets, cars were frozen in the middle of crossing the roads, birds taking flight in front of his eyes and the cat just barely running in between all of it. When he finally caught up to the cat it was facing the wall of a dead end alleyway. It turned its head to him and said “Mrow?” as if it had just noticed him following it. Akira panted as he glared at its innocent eyes. Something about this cat seemed off to him.

“Don’t you belong to someone? And why aren’t you frozen like everything else?” It just looked back at him. What else could he expect, it’s a cat after all. It had a collar on, maybe the owner could help him? He took a step towards the cat when it started hissing at him, arching its back. He backed off immediately and raised his hands up. The cat leaped at him ready to attack him. Akira closed his eyes and waited for it, but it never came. Instead, he heard it yowling and biting something behind him. Turning around he saw a large white creature with wings and a large golden halberd aimed towards him. At least it was until the cat started to scratch at its face if you could call it that. Whatever it was, it definitely didn’t like the cat that was scrambling all over it. The creature finally managed to grab the cat, flinging it across the alleyway and into one of its walls. It landed in a pile. “Hey!” Akira ran to the cat, trying to check where it was injured. He picked up the cat as he ran past the creature.

The creature groaned as it leaped after him, spreading wings fly over him. It landed in front of Akira poised to strike him with the halberd. He made a quick turn and ran into another alley, not looking back. He heard its cry as it chased him.

Akira’s head was spinning, he wasn’t sure where he could even go with that thing chasing him. Then he heard the jingling of the cat’s collar tags and he had an idea. Maybe the owner could help him? What did they say? “Dammit!” The tags only had the name on them. Morgana. Well, at least he knows its name now! He saw the shadow of that creature fly overhead and he dove under the cover of an awning. Crouching down behind some trash cans he tried his best to make it so he wouldn’t be seen. It landed a few feet away, far enough that he didn’t think it was going to see him. He held his breath as it turned towards him, taking loud steps towards him. Had it seen him? His body tensed as it got closer, he got ready to run. The steps stopped far closer than he would have liked. The thing seemed to make noises, a sort of chirping into the air, and then it leaped into the air. Akira could hear the beat of its wings grow farther and farther away. He gave a sigh of relief, finally away from that thing.

He stood up from behind his cover of trash cans and slowly made his way out from under the awning. He looked around and he held Morgana tighter to his chest. Its breathing still sounded weak, but at least it seemed better. And he was out of that situation. He began to walk towards where he thought the street was. Weaving through alleyways he thought seemed familiar apparently wasn’t a winning strategy since it only seemed to get him even more lost. At least everything still seemed frozen, Sojiro probably wouldn’t notice he was gone. If he could get back, that is. Turning a corner once again he saw it was a dead end. As he was just about to turn around there was a bright flash of light. Akira felt the back of his head get hit and suddenly he was on the ground. Morgana must have fallen out of his arms since he was just in front of him, still passed out. He felt a prick in the back of his neck and any chance of getting up seemed to go away as he lost feeling in his limbs. He could do nothing as he felt something grab his feet and he heard a familiar chirp. He saw someone pick up Morgana.

Someone spoke to him. “Oh? You’re still awake? That is very impressive Mr. Kurusu. I’m sure our men will be delighted to have a look at you. Unfortunately, to bring you back to our base we need you to be entirely unconscious so... you’ll have to forgive me for using such a crude method.” He saw that the man was wearing a golden mask, just before the man’s boot came down on his temple. The world faded to black.

 

…

…

…

The first thing Akira noticed when he woke up was how much his head hurt. It felt like it had practically been split open. The second thing he noticed was the familiar sensation of his wrists bound together. The third thing Akira noticed was where he was. It seemed that he was in a dark room, tied to a wall by his wrists and that the sole source of light was being shined directly onto him.

 The last thing he noticed was that he was completely and utterly alone. No one would be saving him.

  



	2. Bullet 2: Kitty Cat What's That?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to work on three different things at once and that was a mistake. Heres the first one, tell me which one you want to see second! Have a good time reading and please tell me what you think.

The next few days or months, Akira couldn’t really be sure, had him drugged up. They kept injecting needles into him, Keeping him barely lucid. Sometimes they even took things from him. About an hour after he woke up for the first time, some men in suits came in. They stood around him, asking questions and ordering men in lab coats around the room. At the time it struck him how similar all this was to the movies he used to watch as a kid. The hero is abducted by the villains, held in a cell and talked to. Then he was rescued by his band of friends and everything turned out alright. It seemed just like that to Akira, with one small exception. 

Akira wouldn’t be rescued, and that made it a hundred times scarier. Even when he wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, he knew no one was coming. Who would? He didn’t have friends, they abandoned him. His father wouldn’t look at him, his guardian barely cared. Sometimes he thought he saw that cat in the shadows, but it’s not like it was actually there. The thought almost made him cry if he could feel anything. Instead, he stood chained to a wall, still in his school uniform from what had to be days ago. He tried to concentrate on that, tried to focus on anything to get rid of the haze that infested his mind. He opened his eyes, looking at where he knew the door had to be. It was where the men always came from.

  
“Ah, you’re awake now. That’s good,” A voice came from the darkness. “we can finally begin the procedure.” Whatever Akira had been attached to began to tilt backward, the voice continuing. “I wouldn’t worry too much about what we will be doing, the stress might make it worse!” He chuckled darkly, “ In any case, I doubt that you could worry in the state you’re in. Those men kept you quite drugged up, for a while, you could barely even perceive what was going on around you. Only faintest pinpricks and tests we ran on you.” Akira started to drift off, this man was going on for too long. “Oh? A little drowsy are we?” A gloved hand firmly grabbed Akira’s face, jerking him to the side to see a familiar golden mask. “I would recommend you stay awake while I talk, you might hear something important!”

“Anyways, our...scientists have finally found a candidate to play host to something quite dangerous. You could even call him our most dangerous criminal, someone powerful enough to pose a threat to our leader. To keep him out of the way of our plan, we need someone of the proper physical attributes, the right bloodlines, and compatibility for the creature. That someone is you, at least that’s what we think. I doubt you’ll understand what this truly means, but to put it in a few words, you’re quite exceptional. The only other candidate in the world went missing over 16 years ago, and though I’m fairly sure you’ve got something to do with that, we can talk about that later. For now, why don’t we begin the procedure? Be warned, it may sting a little.” The man snapped his fingers and summoned a large golden circle parallel to Akira. In it were symbols that even if Akira weren’t drugged, he was fairly sure he wouldn’t be able to read. “Oh, put this in your mouth too.” Something metallic and too large was shoved in his mouth.  
  
“Ready?” The top of the circle was suddenly covered in towering blue flames. A hand rested on his forearm, “Try to relax a little.” and the man stepped back from him. He snapped again and as suddenly as the circle appeared, it vanished. Unfortunately, it didn’t take the fire with it, dropping all of it onto the table and onto Akira. In a single moment, Akira began experiencing an agony that seemed to stretch on forever. The flames grabbed at him, burning him, making him want to cry out in pain. His back arched off the table, trying desperately to get away from the fire. Time slowed down to a halt once again.

  
**_“What’s this? Another feeble attempt to contain me to some mortal?_ ** **”** A deep voice reverberated inside of Akira. **“** **_A boy cannot contain me, my nemesis, and soon you shall fall by my hand.”_ ** The flames seemed to reach up and were slammed down by a harsh force. It seemed that they were trapped in a small circle, the same as he was. They scrambled away from Akira, pressing up against invisible walls and keeping away from the table in the center. In the back of Akira’s mind, he thought he saw the hands of fire clawing at the slowly encroaching borders.  As he stared into the flames, he began to think. He realized that he probably wouldn’t survive whatever this was. He had been kidnapped, drugged, and now he was being set on fire. All he had done was to help a cat! ‘ _Then again,_ ’ his mind reminded _‘you are a criminal.’_ His vision went red at the thought. Out of his focus, the flames went still.

Was that it? Was he taken because of his record? Was all this because he was criminal? He hadn’t done anything wrong! He had helped and was punished for it. He began to scrape at the table, a flame in his chest. Would anyone even care that he was taken, would they care if he died? His friends abandoned him, his family had sent him off, kept out of sight! Even Sojiro, who hadn’t known him for more than a day, had already assumed he was some delinquent!  

 **_“You,”_ ** the flames that kept away from him so far crawled towards him, licking just below him. **_“your heart screams in rage at the injustice of the world, betrayal cut most deep. Perhaps you have decided that your previous decision was a mistake?”_ ** The thought gave him pause. No…, of course, it wasn’t. Even if he did end up branded a criminal, he still saved that lady still stopped the man who deserved to be stopped. He understood why it ended up this way, but the understanding just made him angrier. “ **_No? Then perhaps you are worthy of me. Tell me,”_ ** The flames licked the bottom of the table. **_“and vow to me that thou art willing to perform all sacrilegious acts to attain thine own justice, call on me, make a deal, and seal the fates of those who wronged you! Attain thine own justice, though the chains of hell shall bind us together till the end of time itself!”_ ** The flames moved and began to grasp at him. Instead of the searing pain, the flames were solid and warm. They began to disappear as with each touch, strengthening his. His mind told him what to do, call the name branded to his soul. “Arsene!” Chains burst of the fires, diving into his chest, wrapping around his wrists. He grasped them, pulling on them as best he could. A figure emerged from the blue flames, forming into a humanoid being, large wings beating to keep him afloat. **_“This is the form you shall see. You may call me Arsene, the Demon Thief. Now… shall we make a deal?”_ ** Akira knew what would happen next, though he wasn’t prepared for it. Arsene dove into him, the rest of the chains following him in. A warm feeling spread all around him, awakening him to the new power inside him. With renewed force, he broke the binding that tied him to the table.

Time began to move once again, with harsh winds pushing the masked man onto his back. The walls that trapped the flames inside had disappeared, allowing Akira to walk towards the door. As he reached for the knob, the building shook. Akira nearly fell over but steadied himself against the wall. He opened the door, accidentally ripping it off the hinges. ‘ _That was new.’_ The sight of the hallway surprised him. In front of him, men were on the ground, groaning and clutching the parts of their bodies that were broken. To his left the wall was broken, a pair of legs telling him what had happened. How? He didn’t have a clue.

“Mrow?” At his feet, the cat he had saved, Morgana, stared up at him with blue eyes. It tilted its head in confusion, wondering what he was doing. The cat hopped onto Akira, who grabbed it out of the air automatically. It nestled comfortably and let out a content purr. Akira ran down the hall, careful not to trip on anyone. He came to a forked hallway, one went left and one way went right. Down the right way, the trail of men continued, and down the left, he heard a man. Thinking fast he ran down the right way, hoping that he would get out soon.

He ran down hallways, blurring together as he took sudden turns and rarely slowing down to rest. He needed to find the exit, but how could he do that? He had no idea where he had been taken, much less how to get out. He turned to the right once again, only to slam into a wall. Morgana, who had fallen asleep in his arms, fell to the ground with a yowl. Akira blinked stars out of his eyes, reaching for Morgana. “You better watch where you’re going, someone could get hurt if you just turn corners without lookin’.” Akira looked up to see a man in a dark trench coat looking down on him. Behind his head, a light was shining bright, though when he extended a hand to Akira, he realized that it was just a lightbulb. 

“Anyways, the name’s Rodin if you’re curious.” Akira tried not to stare at his tattoos, but the one that went under his sunglasses caught his attention.  “If not, I guess you can get the hell outta my way.” Akira took his gloved hand since unlike everyone else he had seen, he was wearing dark clothes. It helped that Morgana had apparently taken a liking to him, rubbing up against his ankles. He smiled and gave the cat a rub on the head, making him purr. They both stood up, Rodin towering over Akira, who was already fairly tall for his age. Rodin took out a cigar, lighting it with a flame that came from his thumb.  Ordinarily, this would make Akira look twice, but today he had seen weirder things. Akira rolled a thought around in his head, deciding to take his chances with Rodin.   
  
“Do you know where the exit is?” Rodin quirked a brow at that. He stared at Akira and suddenly he had the feeling that he wasn’t looking at him with eyes, but he didn’t really want to know what was behind the glasses. Rodin pointed a thumb behind him and said “Down that way, take a left, then keep going straight. You’ll know you’re in the right place when you see a bunch of trucks.” Akira relaxed at the thought of being so close to getting out. Right now he just wanted to get home. Rodin stepped around him and handed him Morgana, who settled into his arms as if he had never left.

He stepped around Akira, laying a hand on his shoulder as he passed, leaning to say something in his ear. “You might wanna get that demon under control. He can be a bitch if you wait too long Akira” He kept walking past him, stopping a few feet away. He dug something out of his coat pocket, handing it to Akira. In his hands, there was a small white mask, the eyes of it having three black triangles on the bottom of it. “Kid, that’ll help you get out of here. When you want to use it, just call out the name of that friend of yours and he’ll come. You better be careful with that, it’s a rental. When you get out, come see me. Then we’ll talk. He handed Akira a small white card that said  _ The Gates of Hell _ and continued around the corner.   
  
As soon as he left three men came around the corner, dressed in white and wearing gold masks. In their hands were spears, though they seemed very gun shaped. They took aim and fired, making Akira realize that they were in fact guns. The largest of the men charged forward, lunging at him with his blade. Akira barely dodged out of the way, the blade almost grazing his chest. Time slowed down around Akira, the man nearly slowing to a halt. The mask in Akira’s hands grew warm, reminding him to put it on. It didn’t fit perfectly, but it didn’t fall off. As soon as he put it on, time sped up again and he called out “A-Arsene!” To his surprise, a purple portal opened up to reveal a large fist that punched the man through a wall. At this point Morgana leaped out of his arms, running between the legs of the other two men. He turned left and disappeared behind the corner.    
  
Akira did not have time for this. With a shout, he called another fist out to deal with them. When they were dealt with, Aira ran after the cat. In no time at all, he found Morgana laying in the sunlight of an open door. A warm breeze brushed his face and he knew that this was the way out. He took a step out, squinting in the sunlight. Waiting on the rooftop across from the door was a familiar face. It let out a shriek as it jumped off the rooftop to land in front of Akira. He grinned as he realized just what was happening. 

 

He was going to beat the shit out of the thing that brought him here. And he couldn’t wait to get started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I was thinking about posting some extra stuff (just stories about future characters or some backstory) and I was wondering what you guys would rather have. Would you rather read about Yu Narukami and a hard week (also includes a DMC character) or a story about Bayonetta and Akira's dad? Just say in the comments what you would prefer


	3. Bullet 3: Lost Kid, Lost Cause

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi!
> 
> I had no idea what this chapter was supposed to be. I know what the next one is, I know the one after that. I just didn't know how to get there.

Akira felt his confidence surge forward as he waved the creature over, grinning wildly as it began to approach. In its hands, a large golden halberd pointed towards him. In the back of his mind, he knew he should be terrified. Reasonably this thing could easily kill him. He wasn’t trained to fight, he wasn’t even sure if he could dodge an attack thrown by that thing. In one moment he almost felt overwhelmed by the feelings. He tried his best to calm down, let himself hide behind the mask he was wearing. Strangely enough, Morgana had decided to hide behind the doorway out.

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and then he grinned. It wasn’t happy, but full of promises to hurt that creature. He took a step forward, leading with a right hook. In his heart he grasped his newly found power, bringing it to the forefront of his mind. With a clenched fist and a determined heart, he aimed for his adversary. His power flared! A fist of dark energy appeared, cracking through concrete and anything else in its way. Akira’s main issue, the crater it left was about ten yards to its left. Unfortunately, his fist was enough to signal the start of the battle, the bird leaping across the alley towards him, weapon fully intent on stabbing through him. Akira needed that power. As a halberd barely missed his leg, he realized just how much he needed it. He scrambled away, panicking his way through the opening between its legs.

He managed to get behind some trash cans just before it had been able to see. His heart was pounding in his chest as he pressed himself against the walls. He heard that creature look through a pile of trash to the left of him. It tore through the plastic bags with claws, tossing bits and pieces behind it. After it made sure nothing was there, it seemed to consider its mess. Suddenly it hit the trash pile with the halberd, flattening what was left of the scraps. It looked around, searching for more hiding places. It threw a trash can across the alley, clanging loudly against Akira’s hiding spot. Against all his willpower, he let out a gasp of surprise.

It spun around to look at where the noise came from. Could they see him? Had it already seen him? He tried to make himself as small as possible, tried to press as closely against the wall as he could. Part of him wanted to shut his eyes and the other part knew that he needed to keep himself ready to run. Where did his courage go? He could feel himself shaking.

Bitterly, he thought, _“It probably left with those powers.”_ He stowed the mask in his pocket, getting ready to run as the winged creature could almost look over the trash cans. Akira squeezed his eyes shut, pushing against the shadows of the trash cans. He was surprised to feel substance from them, but he focused on thoughts of the creature finding him. 

A moment passed. Then another went by. Akira opened his eyes to see, thinking in the back of his mind that it was waiting for him to look at it. Instead, he saw that it was simply standing in place. It exhaled loudly, it gave the trash can a few taps with the bottom of its spear.  Seemingly satisfied by what it found, it walked on to the next hiding place. 

“ _Was it...bored?”_ Akira wasn’t sure if he should be offended by that, but he knew that he was happy it hadn’t spotted him. He waited, then he pushed himself off the wall and brushed off his legs. He kept an eye on the creature but took careful steps away from it. As soon as he thought it was safe, he sprinted away as fast as he could. Unknown to him, a certain feline had decided to follow after him.

The world always seems to have a way of connecting people. In the case of Akira and Ryuji, it connected them at a running start and a collision course.

“What the f-!!” That was what Ryuji Sakamoto had to say when he fell to the ground.

“Whoa!” This was Ann Takamaki’s eloquent response to the situation.

Today, to put it simply, was not a very good day for Ryuji. The first thing, he had woken up half an hour late! That meant that he barely had five minutes to get ready for school. Then when he had tried to talk to Ann, someone had plowed right onto him and knocked him (and his bag) down! It didn’t help that whoever had done it landed right on his bad leg.

“Hey! Are you alright?” Ann stuck out her hand to help him up. She looked concerned.  
  
Ryuji threw out a quick curse. “Crrrrap...yeah, I’ll be okay.” He took her hand, pushing himself up with his good leg. He could already tell his leg would be in pain all day now. “Who did that?”

“I’m guessing the guy who landed on you. Why don’t you ask him?” Did she have to be sarcastic right now? His leg freakin’ hurt!

He poked the guy on the ground with the toe of his shoe, just checking to see if he was still alive. Ryuji had hit the ground pretty hard, so he can only imagine what this guy felt going down head first. “Hey man? Are you okay?” With every tap, he twitched a little bit more. Ryuji leaned down, offering his hand. “Do you need help getting up? The man grasped his hand, pushing himself off the pavement. 

He watched the stranger look around, seeming to scan the area around them. Ryuji couldn’t help but wonder, _“What’s he looking for?”_ Once he stopped and let his eyes settle on Ann and himself, Ryuji took the time to actually see who had introduced himself headfirst.

Startlingly clear grey eyes peered out at him from under curly black hair. He was taller than Ryuji and covered in twice as much dirt. His face had a bruise forming on the side of it, and a question dawned on Ryuji. What had he been running from? It seemed Ann had the same thought when she asked him.

“Are you okay? You don’t look too good.”

He looked like he had realized something and tried to hold his hands up to assure them, only for him to show them his palms were bloodied and bruising. Ann gasped at the sight, and Ryuji shivered at the sight. The stranger turned his hands around, simply saying “Oh,” as if the bleeding was normal. Ryuji couldn’t help but wonder, was bleeding normal for him? He tried to ignore the thought, asking “Do you need help? That looks painful.”

  
He waved away Ryuji’s concerns. “It doesn’t really hurt all that much. Could you help me though?” He scratched his cheek, ignoring the blood trail it left. “I’m not exactly sure where I am.”

Ann asked him, “Don’t you go to Shujin Academy? We’re right down the street.”

“Huh? How’d you know that?” Ryuji couldn’t help but wonder that himself.

“You’re wearing the uniform?” How did Ryuji not notice that? “So are we, which makes sense. We go there too.” Perhaps they weren’t the best examples of the uniform, but the guy seemed to get it. He looked down and actually seemed surprised as if he’d forgotten about it.

“Oh yeah, I guess I am... What do I do now? It seems I got lost.” He reached into his pocket for his phone, only to pull out empty handed. Did he lose his phone?

Ann and Ryuji shared a look with each other. Could they help him? It was the first day of class, but this guy seemed pretty lost. Ryuji knew that the school probably already thought he’d be late, so he wasn’t in a huge rush to abandon the stranger. Ann on the other hand? He doubted they would expect her to be late, and he could understand that. He wouldn’t be surprised if she dumped this guy on him and went to school. Even if she was late, Kamoshida would probably stick his neck out for her and she’d be forgiven if she left now.

 In spite of what he thought would happen, she was the first to step forward. “We can help you! Where do you live?”  
  
“Oh! Are you sure?"

"Absolutely, you seem pretty out of it." Ryuji couldn't help but wonder if she just didn't want to go to class.  
  
"I live in Yongen-Jaya, but I don’t have a train pass.”   
  
“That’s okay, I’m sure we can figure out a way to get on the train. You can just pay us back after.”

At this point, Ryuji had a thought. “Wait a minute. Before we do any of that, who are you?” It wasn’t unreasonable to ask. After all, this stranger had come out of an alley without anything on him? It was a little sketchy, and as much as Ryuji wanted to believe him, he just needed to make sure.

It seemed the man didn’t think it was that weird either. He gave a slight bow, putting a smile on his face. “My name is Akira Kurusu, I’m a transfer student.” 

“I’m Ann Takamaki and this is Ryuji Sakamoto. We go to Shujin too.”

“It’s nice to meet you both.” He bowed his head again, “Thank you for helping me.” 

Ryuji felt something wet land on his forehead and it occurred to him that he hadn’t checked the weather today. In spite of the dark, cloudy sky above them, he hoped it wouldn’t rain on them.

Elsewhere in Yongen-Jaya, the owner of Cafe Leblanc hadn’t gone home the night before. He hadn’t even bothered to sleep, simply waiting with the light on. Why had he done any of this? He had made it quite clear that he didn’t care about his charge, that if the delinquent slipped up then he would be straight out of his hands and back in prison. Of course, he never accounted for Akira disappearing in the middle of heavy traffic. Not kidnapped, he disappeared entirely. As in there one second and gone the next. He’d left the car door open and everything.

He hadn’t called Akira’s father yet, he didn’t even know what to say if he had. _Hello, your son just isn’t here anymore!_ He couldn’t do that, especially to his old friend. He couldn’t even do that to a new friend!

Seriously! Where’d he go?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy!
> 
> I hoped you liked it! Please tell me what I did wrong, tell me what I did right, or even just tell me what I did okay.  
> Leave a comment? I'll be back soon.


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